There is No Rain Without Thunder
Kit-Bacon Gressitt
The Clearinghouse of San Diego County
San Diego, California
This article describes the hows and whys of forming grassroots coalitions and what to do with it once you have it. "If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet avoid confrontation, are people who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning." FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Yes, freedom demands diligence. That means lots of time, attention, advocacy, TLC, and even some occasional snooping. If you are contemplating entering the struggle, be comforted in the knowledge that you are joining the ranks of the activist elite. From our founding mothers and fathers to our modern day rabble-rousers, you will now be in the company of that small, dedicated minority who have effectively committed themselves to furthering the concepts of our democracy.
The commitment to watchdog our government can seem daunting, even down right hopeless, at times. But there is a trick to this trade of protecting our rights: organizing volunteers. Indeed, contrary to media rumours, volunteerism is not dead in the United States. Sometimes it simply takes a local crisis to motivate armchair activists into action.
In San Diego County, California, that well-placed kick took the form of an onslaught of right-wing radicals into local offices in 1990, mostly school boards. When the shock wore off, grassroots organizations throughout the county found themselves with a paradigm of motivators: an identifiable, tangible threat to freedoms we had here-to-fore complacently enjoyed. As sex education and self-esteem curricula, low-income meal programs, library books, and teachers' personal lives came under attack from radical right board members and their supporters, activists became aware that their basic rights were in jeopardy; organizations became aware that time was of the essence. All were eager to expose the rascals and prevent a second wave of radicals from being seated, but no single organization had the resources necessary to do the job.
After months of bemoaning the election outcome in righteous indignation, but failing to respond, The Clearinghouse concept emerged: to create a coalition of grassroots organizations which, among their varied agendas, shared the goal of developing an effective, strategic response to the newly- empowered radical right. Born of adversity, it became a coalition of startling variety, with a highly motivated and directed body of volunteers. Groups advocating for the environment, conservation, major and minor political parties, women, gay and lesbian rights, educators, minorities, reproductive rights, and mainstream churches and synagogues found common ground to unite them.
Though working with existing organizations required dancing around numerous bureaucracies, policies, and priorities, the benefits of working through a coalition were far greater than the detriments. The waltz gained the coalition access to information sources, membership, existing administrative resources; and volunteers from 25 or more groups; established name recognition and media rapport; and the public perception of a balanced, unbiased approach lent by the persona of participating organizations. Why recreate the wheel, when you can link up to a locomotive?
The Clearinghouse participants agreed that the radical right had succeeded because the public was un- or mis-informed, and this defined its purpose: to compile and disseminate non-partisan (this is important to public and media relations) candidate information for voters. The coalition would become a literal clearinghouse of information on candidates' defining positions and their supporters. The goal was three-fold: research all candidates, identify those holding radical right positions on key issues, and report findings to the public.
Objectives were concretely defined as establishing a county-wide school board watchdog system) and developing a comprehensive voter guide to be distributed by participating organizations and through the media.
Since its inception, The Clearinghouse has matured, participating organizations have waned and waxed, and efforts have been streamlined. The radical right berates the coalition publicly, a sure sign of effectiveness. Unaffiliated individuals request the voter guide. And, the media uses The Clearinghouse as a resource.
The coalition is one of several efforts in the county that is effectively stripping the radical right of its camouflage and exposing its true character to the public. Without any funding to speak of, and completely reliant on volunteerism, The Clearinghouse has established a reliable and unbiased mechanism, with broadbased support, for providing factual candidate information to voters. And so can you.
Organizational Outreach or Yes, Politics Does Make for Odd Bedfellows
A basic rule of fundraising is, if you don't ask, you don't get what you want. The same holds true for coalition building. Go ahead -- define your fantasy coalition and pursue it. You may be surprised by the identity of your allies. Not only is the personal political, so is the service organization, the bridge club, the recycling group, the neighborhood organization, the belly dancing class, ad nauseam.
Who is your core group? Parent-activists, a club, an organization? Call a meeting. Have them bring like-minded friends. List all the organizations in your area, omitting any known to support, breed, or otherwise be aligned with right-wing radicalism. Identify a contact or two for each remaining group. Then, assign each core group member to an organization to make a personal pitch for its participation: for the use of the organization's name, for a volunteer liaison. You won't get -- or want -- every group you approach, but you will attract many of them. And, some that won't lend their names publicly, will be anonymous sources of information and will be chomping at the bit to get a hold of your voter guide.
By the way, if you've not yet accepted it, come to grips with the fact that computers are our friends. Start a data base immediately of coalition member organizations and contacts, noting which will go public and which will not. While you're at it, create a secondary data base of volunteers. You'll need help with mailing preparation, phoning, attending meetings, media relations, and voter guide compilation and layout. With your coalition established, it's time to begin the task of research.
The Research: Dig Deep -- the Truth is Out There Somewhere
The primary purpose of the research is to identify right-wing radical candidates, based on their positions on telling issues. Unfortunately, many of these candidates will refuse to respond to questionnaires from any but their own support groups. Hence, the need for research beyond your questionnaire.
While many candidates in San Diego County are more overt now than they were in 1990, they still try to temper their radical politics in mom-and- apple pie language with a scoop of anti-tax rhetoric la mode. It's the stuff that sways ill-informed voters -- and the stuff that can win local elections if unchallenged. There is no greater joy for an activist than being able to counter a schmoozy, dump-big-government-lower-the-middle-class-tax- burden campaigner with the revelation that the same candidate actively opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest, and advocates the elimination of low cost meals for poverty-stricken children who come to school unfed. Yep, the truth can be sweet.
If you begin your coalition in a non-election year, you can approach the research methodically. You'll have time to thoroughly review public records, newspapers, etc. Whatever your timing, remember the underlying concept here: you are not a sole practitioner; you're a coalition. The information you need might be right in the files or memory banks of your partners. The Clearinghouse has met monthly in off-years solely for information sharing.
The specific data you need depends on the questions your coalition agrees to pose to candidates (see sample questionnaire). In general, the following resources will prove rich in information:
Political beat reporters;
County Registrar's records: ballot statements, candidate petition signers, voter registration, campaign financial reports, etcetera;
Newspaper articles and letters to the editor;
Special interest publications: religious, anti-tax, anti-abortion, gun lobby, and conservative news, opinion, and education;
Statements at local public meetings or organizations' meetings;
Transcripts from past public meetings.
Again, a computer comes in handy. Create a data base of identified or likely conservative radicals -- candidates and supporters. Include a hefty comments section to document sources and activities. Sometimes the only way to identify a radical right candidate is by his or her supporters or endorsers. Always double check your sources, though. It's not uncommon for a naive candidate to unknowingly accept a radical right endorsement. For instance, an anti- abortion group's endorsement does not a radical right candidate make. What's more important is support for the separation of church and state. Make sure you have more than one defining criteria for identifying radical right candidates.
Media Relations: It's a Love-Hate Thing
The media are the partners in this coalition that you'll love to hate. But you do need them. The media should both inform the public of how to obtain your voter guide and be a point of distribution for the guide. A monthly newspaper with a large county-wide distribution has published the Clearinghouse Voter Guide as a public service.
Most likely, one or more of your coalition members will have an existing rapport with a political reporter. One good story about your efforts will birth another. It is vitally important that your media releases emphasize non-partisan voter education (see sample media release). If your releases and spokespeople expound on the despicable horrors of the radical right, you'll lose voters. Keep it simple; keep it straightforward. Your coalition is providing a public service to mainstream voters. They'll love you for it.
Rolling, Rolling, Rolling
So, you're ready to roll. Just a few more pointers to help smooth your path.
1. A list of candidates who have successfuly completed the filing process may be obtained from your county registrar within several days of the filing deadline. This, or some part of it, is the list to which you'll mail your questionnaire. Consider following up the mailing with phone calls. This will increase the response rate. Your research kicks in when questionnaires are not returned. If there's a conflict between a questionnaire response and other sources of information, graciously confront the candidate and ask for his or her intended response.
2. Select questions for your questionnaire carefully. They must be both revealing and reflect your community's mainstream concerns. It's also important to validate the participation of all your member organizations. Try to include at least one or two questions in the candidate questionnaire that reflect each group's primary issue: the environment, women's rights, a local polemic, etc.
3. Your coalition's significant costs will be postage and copying. Ask each member to contribute a roll of stamps and either a tenspot for copying or time on their office machine.
4. If you find yourself in a jam, feel free to call The Clearinghouse at (619) 728-4956.